New fire station in Sylvania on solid foundation

Construction continues on the foundation for the new Fire Station No. 1 near downtown Sylvania. The station is slated to be completed by November. The $1.9 million project is on budget and on schedule.

The foundation of the building is laid, and the changes to the land that is home to the new Fire Station No. 1 are apparent.

Sylvania Township Fire Chief Jeff Kowalski stood firmly on the ground where a slanted driveway once was located. The land, filled with a backfill mixture of premium stone, is now level with Monroe Street. Mossier Construction Superintendent Dan Schroeder said 5,000 tons of backfill have been used on the site, which is on a hill. Most of it was used to fill in the cavity of the former building’s basement, Mr. Schroeder said.

The material is compacted, and on Thursday Toledo-based TTL Associates engineer David Smith, working independently for Sylvania Township, was testing the concrete and compaction of the backfill.

Chief Kowalski said the $1.9 million project is on budget and on schedule. He said that he is happy with the quality and timeliness of the work, especially because the tight space only allows for a certain amount of material to be on site and makes it difficult to maneuver large construction vehicles around the shell of the 8,900-square-foot building.

The foundation wall, 14 feet high and 108 feet long, is complete, and the brick masons are set to begin their part of the project Tuesday.

“When the bricklayers are here, people will get excited to see the walls and the building to come out of the ground,” Chief Kowalski said. “It will start to look like something.”

Mr. Schroeder said the back wall, which will face Sautter’s Market, will have a pleasant brick design placed over it, because it will be visible to the public.

Construction began April 3 with demolition of the old fire station. John Zeitler, township administrator, said that Mosser Construction, based in Fremont, Ohio, has effectively maintained traffic flow on Monroe Street, which flows into Main Street and the City of Sylvania’s historic downtown, which is just a right turn away from the fire station.

While the new fire station is under construction, the fire fighters will continue to be stationed at 6676 Brint Road.

Chief Kowalski said the average time for runs from Monroe Street were five minutes and 32 seconds, based on runs from January to March. So far the average time for runs from the temporary Brint Road location is five minutes and 17 seconds, and that is based on the 77 fire and 219 EMS runs since being stationed there in March.